Stephen Harper's policies on drugs are embarrassingly backwards. In Canada right now, millions of people are paying out of pocket for medically necessary prescriptions and supplies, or, becoming ill when they can no longer afford to. At the same time, proven life-saving initiatives like Insite, Vancouver's safe-injection site for drug users, are being threatened by new legislation. Canadian communities need a national pharmacare program but instead, on March 23 the Harper government passed the second reading of Bill C-2, the "Respect for Communities Act," to throw up roadblocks in the creation of safe-injection sites.

Update: Health Canada has granted Insite an exemption to operate for another year. However, Health Canada has yet to decide to grant an exemption for Dr. Peter Centre, which has operated a three-booth injection room since 2002.

Related rabble.ca story:

rabble.ca is saddened to learn of the death of Bud Osborn. Osborn was a founding member of Vancouver Area Network of Drugs Users (VANDU), a group of users and former users who work to improve the lives of people who use illicit drugs through user-based peer support and education.

His work with VANDU led to the creation of North America's first supervised injection site in Vancouver, and continued through legal challenges to laws affecting controlled substances and their users.